Ballerina Math

Miss Lina's Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone is about eight little girls who study dance with Miss Lina.  Christina, Edwina, Sabrina, Justina, Katrina, Bettina, Marina, and Nina dance around town in four rows of two.  When a new girl, Regina, joins the group, the original eight girls are a little unsure about how they will work together.  In the end, they realize that nine girls can dance in three groups of three.  This is a sweet book about teamwork, friendship, and ballet!

I decided to use the opportunity to introduce R to more number fun with grouping.  She has been counting by twos for a week or so now, and I thought she could have some fun putting ballerinas in groups.  First, I printed nine ballerinas for her to color.  I found the ballerina coloring page at the Sherri Allen website.  C helped her with some of the coloring.

I cut out all of the ballerinas and challenged R to put the first eight into equal groups.  She was a little silly at first, but eventually she put them in two rows of four and four rows of two.

When I added the ninth ballerina, she did not know what to do, but C reminded her that the ballerinas danced in three rows of three.

C was very helpful throughout all of this.  He loves to be the teacher.

When all was said and done, I taped popsicle sticks to the backs of the ballerinas and R took off to put on a ballet.

I am linking this to Math Links.  Click on the link for more fun math ideas.